ST. GEORGE — A 40-year-old Ivins man required to register as a sex offender for life was arrested when officers found him driving a vehicle with four juvenile girls during a traffic stop last week.
Scott David Mock, 40, of Ivins, is scheduled to appear in 5th District Court Thursday for a roll call hearing on a misdemeanor sex offender in presence of child charge.
The case stems from an incident Oct. 15 when a Santa Clara-Ivins Police Officer stopped a vehicle going 40 mph in a 25 mph zone shortly after 10 p.m. While speaking with the driver, identified as Mock, the officer observed four juvenile girls in the vehicle, three 14-year-olds and one who was 12, according to the probable cause statement filed in support of Mock’s arrest.
A records check revealed the defendant was a lifetime sexual offender out of Nevada, the report says. Police then contacted the probation officer assigned to his case and learned Mock was not allowed to be within 1,000 feet of anywhere juveniles under the age of 18 gather, nor was he allowed to have anyone under the age of 18 in his vehicle.
The lifetime sex offender registry requirement stems from two Nevada cases where Mock was convicted of felony lewdness with a child under the age of 14 in April 2003. Three months later he was convicted of attempted sexual assault against a child under the age of 14, also a felony, on July 24, 2003.
During the Santa Clara traffic stop, the officer asked if Mock had written permission from his probation officer to have the juveniles in his presence, as is required by state law, and he replied that he did not, the officer noted in the report.
Mock was then arrested and transported to Purgatory Correctional Facility where he was booked on the above offense and held on $1,950 bail. The charge was filed two days later by the Washington County Attorney’s Office.
The defendant was then placed on a 72-hour hold by Adult Probation and Parole after his arrest, Santa Clara/Ivins Police Sgt. Reed Briggs said.
The juveniles were later picked up from the scene and their parents contacted by police.
The defendant appeared for an arraignment hearing Oct. 18 and was released later that same day.
Under Utah law, the sex offender in presence of a child charge is defined as an offender who is in the presence of, and moves or travels with, the child from one place to another, or in any type of vehicle.
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